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In North Korea, just as other communist states, there are innumerable pieces of public art dedicated to the installation of communism and to the installers themselves. Great amounts of money are poured into these projects at the expense of the people's welfare, and the results show it. Here are the most egregious examples:

Built in 2001, this statue expresses the shared yearning felt by both north and south alike to unify once more. Being in North Korea, it naturally expresses the desire for that Korea to be ruled by Kim Il-Sung. The statue straddles the Tongil Expressway, a mostly empty four-lane highway between Panmunjom and Pyongyang.

#6: Arch of Triumph

Photo: John Pavelka

Photo: Gilad.rom

If this arch looks familiar, it is no coincidence. It was modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. It is, however, 10 meters taller by design. The Arch of Triumph was completed in 1982 on Kim Il-Sung's 70th birthday in the location where he spoke after the Japanese occupation ended in 1945. It is constructed of 25,550 bricks, one for each day in Kim's life up to that point.

#5: Juche Tower

Photo: Martyn Williams

Photo: John Pavelka

Photo: Kaligan

The Juche Tower is dedicated to the Juche Idea, the idea that man is free and independent and master of his own destiny. The tower was also completed in 1982 for Kim Il-Sung's 70th birthday and also contains 25,550 bricks for the same reason. It is less than one meter taller than the Washington Monument. In front of the tower stands a statue of three workers; one holding a hammer, one a sickle (both familiar symbols of communism) and one a writer's brush (to add the intellectual worker).

These three symbols appear on the Worker's Party flag, the leading political party of North Korea.

#4: Monument to the Foundation of the Worker's Party

Photo: John Pavelka

Built in 1995, it commemorates the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Worker's Party in North Korea (surprise!). Again present are the hammer, sickle, and brush, each standing 50 meters high.

#3: Ryugyong Hotel

Photo: John Pavelka

Photo: Kok Leng Yeo

While not technically a monument, it can't be called a building either. The tallest structure in North Korea, the Ryugyong Hotel was meant to become the world's tallest hotel had it been completed on schedule in 1989. It was not. It stood dormant for 16 years and still has not been completed, although construction has been resumed.

#2: Kumsusan Memorial Palace

Photo: Mark Scott Johnson

The official residence of Kim Il-Sung until his death, it is now his mausoleum. Just like his brothers-in-arms, Vladimir Lenin, Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zedong, he has been embalmed and kept in mint condition in a glass sarcophagus. Buried along with his body are his many ornate gifts from heads of state. Access for foreigners is restricted.

#1: Mansudae Grand Monument

Photo: John Pavelka

The Mansudae Grand Monument is a bronze statue of none other than Kim Il-Sung himself. It stands 20 meters tall outside the Museum of the Korean Revolution. This is only one of dozens of statues and images of Kim, but it is the largest and the most visited. It was dedicated to him on Kim's 60th birthday.

The country is littered with many more examples along the same propagandist lines. The millions of dollars spent on them do a fine job of showing their ability to build them, but little else. All of this artifice can't feed the people, a short journey outside the city of Pyongyang shows that. Hopefully soon, North Korea will put as much effort into food and a working electrical grid as it has in pomp and architecture.

BEIJING: North Korea hopes to complete within three years an ambitious but long-delayed hotel under construction in Pyongyang for 25 years, a travel firm said on Friday after it was given rare access to the site.

Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, who died last year, reportedly ordered construction of the 105-storey pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel in 1987.

But the project has been repeatedly delayed and for many stands as a symbol of the persistent economic problems plaguing the country that has suffered from famines in recent years.

Beijing-based company Koryo Tours, which organises trips to North Korea, was granted a rare glimpse of the hotel last week.

During the visit, manager Hannah Barraclough and a colleague were told that North Korean authorities "say it will be two or three more years before the building is complete".

Photos taken by Koryo Tours and provided to AFP reveal a vast but still unfinished concrete interior.

"The atrium, when you walk into the hotel, is covered in glass and full of light," said Barraclough, adding that the glass cladding covering the hotel is nearly completed.

The hotel boasts a ninety-fifth floor viewing platform offering "an amazing panoramic view over Pyongyang" and it will house a massive banquet hall as well as offices and apartments, she said.

Barraclough added that the hotel is likely to remain closed to tourists until its interior is finished.

North Korea has one of the world's most rigidly-controlled economies and is desperately poor following decades of mismanagement and isolation, as well as the imposition of international sanctions over its nuclear programme.

North Korea watchers and media reports in South Korea say Kim Jong-Un, who took over as leader after his father's death in December, has shown signs of promoting market reforms in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Looks like Iraq a few years ago. Well, nothing lasts forever. Someday the bricks in those structures will be used as landfill. It would be nice to see the family and generals that put these structures before their people hang like Saddam did.